Miso aubergine congee style risotto

Our home has been gripped with sickness so I tried to think of the most comforting thing imaginable. Warm mush came to mind. There’s a reason rice porridge and miso soup are considered healing elixirs so I decided to combine the two by making a fusion miso aubergine risotto congee.

I used two aubergines. I cut one into chunks that I tossed in oil with salt and pepper but also kept two halves intact so I could roast them with a chilli soy miso glaze. The glaze consisted of 50g miso paste, 40ml soy sauce, a tablespoon of sugar, a tablespoon of honey (feel free to omit) and a teaspoon of sambal oelek. The chunks went straight into a 220c convection oven for twenty minutes. I halved and scored the intact aubergine and fried in oil for 4 minutes a side in a pan before adding the glaze and allowing to thicken. I put these in their own roasting dish, topped with the glaze and tented with foil and allowed to roast for about 30 minutes. I took the foil off with 10 minutes left. No one likes medium rare eggplant so test with a fork.

For the risotto congee I sauteed the whites from a bunch of spring onion, two cloves of garlic and a knob of ginger before adding a cup of arborio rice. Instead of wine, I used three tablespoons rice wine vinegar. The stock was a combo of stock and miso paste which I blanched a chopped head of bok choy into to maintain its texture. I added it a ladle at a time until the rice was done and I reached my desired consistency. Usually it’s about a litre of stock for a traditional risotto but I added more liquid until I reached a more porridgy consistency. The rice is very forgiving.

Since it was still risotto I finished it with a load of parmesan (feel free to use your cheese of choice) with the roasted aubergine chunks and bok choy, I garnished it with chilli crisp (I use Lao Gan Ma), the green of the spring onion and I topped it with the aubergine half and toasted sesame seeds.

It was spicy to clear sinuses, full of umami so we could actually taste it and it felt like a very warm hug.

by Typical_Use788